On the picturesque Srinagar-Gulmarg road in Kashmir, and in it’s Budgam district, lies the Kanihama village which at one time was quite popular for the handloom craftsmen who lived and worked there. But years of unrest in the Valley pushed Kanihama off the spot-light. Some more neglect, and it might have been a forgotten affair.
But now, the district administration of Budgam has taken an array of steps to revive Kanihama; in fact, very soon it’s hoped the village will turn into a tourist hotspot- a Handloom Tourism Village (HTV). The project has the blessings of the Union Textile Ministry. And in Budgam, it is headed by the area Deputy Commissioner Mr. Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza.
Under this Centre-sponsored project, the district administration of Budgam is working towards creating a platform for the highly skilled artists of Kanihama village. These artists are known for producing world-class Kani pashmina shawls. Mr. Mirza, as part of the project, has already kicked off the beautification drive in the Kanihama village, so as to attract more tourists.
Kani Shawl is one of the oldest handicrafts of Kashmir and has been here since the time of the Mughals. The government has also granted a geographical indication (GI) to the Kani shawls to preserve the old handicraft in their geographical location.
ISSUES FACED BY ARTISTS AND WEAVERS
As Mr. Syed Qadri, a field officer in Budgam points out, “Around 40 percent of the people in the village are specialized in weaving Kani shawls. However, they were finding it quite difficult to make an earning out of it. Despite it being a highly-priced product, they were unable to find relevant customers and had to deal with middlemen to sell their product. Due to this, the brokers were benefitting more than the artists and weavers.”
As producing Kani shawls requires a lot of labour and time, some of these artists became frustrated with the changed circumstances and started switching to other jobs. This whittling down of talent was recognized by the administration and even the central government, after which they planned to develop it as a ‘Handloom Tourism Village,’’ he added.
Soon, the Budgam administration started conducting meetings with the Gram Panchayat, BDO (Narbal), District Panchayat Officer, Chief Planning Officer, ADC of the district to carry out the project in the district.
THE HANDLOOM TOURISM VILLAGE PROJECT
Under the project, around two and a half crore rupees have been sanctioned to revamp the Kanihama village and provide various facilities to the skilled artists and weavers.
Mr. Fayaz Ahmad Dar, one of the Nodal Officers for the project told Indian Masterminds, “As per the project, 30-40 work sheds are being made in the village to encourage weavers. A price of Rs 1.20 lakhs has been allocated for a single shed, which will be made by the weavers themselves. Apart from this, the renovation of the whole village has been sanctioned, and all the houses and other places will be repaired and painted.”
He added, “The main component in this project is the display and sale counter in which a platform will be created where live demonstration of making the loom will be displayed. In this, weavers will be demonstrating the process of making the handloom to the tourists. It will also serve as a platform where they will sell their products directly to the customers, without any involvement of the brokers. Apart from this, an e-commerce website is being created where these weavers can sell their products to people in any part of the country.”
Other beautification projects lined up under the project include construction of viewpoints for tourists, improvement of the lighting system by installing street lights and augmentation of the existing network, etc. The district administration has also taken some steps towards upgrading the village, which includes making a cafeteria for tourists and local people, building a gated plaza at the national highway, and renovating of schools and health centers in the village.
